CONTRIBUTIONS TO BOTANY. 
125 
the apical chalaza : in the two last-mentioned families, the em- 
bryo is excentrically placed near the rostrated summit of the 
albumen, at no great distance from the hilum, and at a more con- 
siderable interval from the lateral chalaza. There can be little 
doubt, therefore, that the Winteracea have far less affinity with 
the Magnoliacea than they have with the Canellacea •, and it 
appears to me that the reasons here given fully justify their 
removal from the station hitherto assigned to them, and their 
appro-ximation to the last-mentioned family, in the manner I 
now proceed to indicate. 
The circumstances that seem to connect the JVinteracea with 
the Schizandracece should not be lost sight of in this investiga- 
tion. There are certainly many points of affinity between them ; 
but some incompatible features are seen in the monoecious c£^ 
racter of the latter order, and the trimerous arrangement of the 
parts : we must, however, remember that in Tasmannia there is 
an approximation in this respect ; for if its flowers be not mon- 
oecious, they are often polygamous ; and although Drimys gene- 
rally does not agree with Kadsura and Sphcerostemma in its parts 
being always in threes or multiples of three, we find these num- 
bers in Illicium, and sometimes in Drimys ; while, on the other 
hand, Schizandra diflFers from its congeners in having a penta- 
merous disposition. There is also in the Winteracece a tendency 
towards the Schizandracecs ; for though Tasmannia has only one 
or two, or sometimes four ovaries, and Drimys six to eight, ///iciwm 
has at times as many as eighteen distinct carpels, — but then, it 
must be remembered, they are always uniserial. There is also 
much similarity in the structure of their ovaries, that is to say, 
they are unilocular, with few ovules attached parietally to tbe 
ventral suture. The fruit in both orders is baccate and few- 
seeded, the seeds being reniform, somewhat small, with a crus- 
taceous shining external tunic, and a short internal raphe along 
the sinus, together with an extremely small embryo imbedded 
at the extremity of the albumen near the hilum, having very 
minute cotyledons in proportion to the radicle. The Schizan- 
dracece, like the IVinteracecB, have alternate exstipulate leaves, 
which are equally distinguished by numerous pellucid dots ; and 
I have before alluded to the peculiar dotted vessels contained in 
the wood of all these three families. In Schizandra, the stamens 
are united into a dilated tube or disk, and Canella offers some 
analogy with this; but the principal line of distinction that 
marks the group of the Schizandracete lies in its monoecious 
flowers, and in the multiserial disposition of its distinct and 
numerous carpels. Notwithstanding the well-marked characters 
that tend to separate these orders, enough has been shown to 
prove their near affinity. 
